


it finds a way

by phylocalist



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (sort of), Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Vicchan (Yuri!!! on Ice) Dies, i'm so sorry y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-11 02:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16466792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phylocalist/pseuds/phylocalist
Summary: The God of Destiny has resided in the backyard of the Katsuki House for millennia, watching over everyone's destiny in the form of a white crow. Nothing shakes him or disturbs him, hidden from the rest of the world.That is, until a boy with warm brown eyes and delicate hands shows up and starts talking to him, gives him smiles and warmth and awakens something long dormant inside the crow. There is something there now, a heart that beats and is interested, filled to the brim with curiosity.What happens, though, when the boy that gave him life suddenly leaves? What is there left for the crow?(In the end, he should know, destiny always finds a way.)





	it finds a way

**Author's Note:**

> this is my fic for the victuri big bang 2018! i've had this fic sitting around for like a year now, and i'm glad that i got to finish it by joining this event! thank you to cary and ollie for keeping this bang running. <3
> 
> and thank you so much to my artist for the wonderful art she created for this fic! please go take a look [here](https://watery-silver.tumblr.com/post/179600460053/heres-my-second-entry-to-the-victuri-big-bang). it's so beautiful.
> 
> this fic will have 2 or 3 chapters (depending on how long the last chapter ends up being) so keep an eye out for the next chapter in about a week!
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Yuuri doesn’t remember the first time he saw the crow. 

It seemed to always be present, perched atop the same branch of the same tree in the edges of his parent’s land. He didn’t even repair on the fact that crows weren’t supposed to be white, weren’t supposed to have feathers that seemed to shine rainbow-silver under the sun.

He never told anyone about the crow, because it was such a constant presence in his life he thought everyone else knew about it as well. That’s why he never learned nobody else could see the crow.

 

*

 

“You’re not gonna talk to him?”

The crow doesn’t even have to glance to his side to know who talked to him. It also isn’t much of a guess, considering the only people who ever acknowledge him are the nosey kitsune, and the little boy from the Katsuki house.

“Old man,” The kitsune insists. One of the older Katsuki generations had given him a name, but the crow doesn’t bother with those. He’s even forgotten his own, probably never even had one. “If you’re never gonna approach him, then I will. And it won’t be pretty.”

The crow doesn’t reply, doesn’t talk back, doesn’t even seem to breathe. He just straightens up, finally acknowledges the kitsune by sending a glare his way. It makes the fox giggle. The crow keeps glaring all the way up until the little blonde boy at his side is transformed back into a small, nimble red fox with curious pointy ears and five tails. He doesn’t have the features to do it anymore, no longer has a human face nor a human mouth, but the fox looks like it’s smiling mischievously.

“You asked for it,” the kitsune says as way of final warning.

The crow doesn’t bring up the fact that the silly little fox has been having a one-sided conversation this whole time. He also doesn’t stop him when he jumps from the branch to the ground, quickly sneaking into the house to surely cause some mischief. It’s not like he can intervene, even if he wanted.

And he knows Yuri won’t hurt the Katsukis. They gave him a name, after all.

 

*

 

Yuuri  _ does _ remember the first time the crow flew down.

It’s a cold January morning. The snow is piling up, so he has to help shoveling. They have too big of a estate— _ too big, what are we supposed to do with all this land? _ his father complains at times—so every pair of hands in the Katsuki household gets put to work whenever the snow begins to fall.

Yuuri doesn’t mind. He gets to play in the snow all he wants as long as he gets it all cleaned up by the end of the day. Sometimes Mari joins him, and they have snowball fights, and Yuuri gets to laugh so warm he almost forgets he’s wearing two jackets.

It’s exactly one of those times; they’re having a snowball fight and Mari throws a snowball towards Yuuri that misses, and they’re so tired from playing that it turns into the last one. After catching her breath, Mari cleans off the snow that got on her clothes and goes back inside the house to look for another shovel.

Yuuri lies on the ground instead, his overworked lungs forming little white clouds out of his breath. He looks up and up and up until his neck is arching backwards and his eyes land, upside down, on the big old tree nearest to his house. The crow is there, sitting as still and regal as always, except—it’s covered in snow.

He springs to his feet as quickly as possible with a disbelieving, worried gasp.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, Mister crow,” Yuuri apologizes quickly, bowing low like he’s been taught to do and wringing his hands the whole time. When he gets back up from his bow, the crow is looking at him, and Yuuri thinks it looks like it’s mad. He gulps. “I can, uh. I can help you get cleaned up?” Yuuri offers, hoping to mend the offense he’s done on the crow. “If you get down here, I can help.”

The crow seems to consider this. It moves his head from one side to the other, slowly and calculating, like he’s gauging how much he can trust the six-year-old. Yuuri waits patiently, even as the wait forms a knot in his throat.

And then, the crow flies down.

It jumps from the branch in one smooth motion, its wings extended out to each of its sides, its snow-covered feathers still managing to catch the sunlight and reflect off a beautiful array of colors.

(Yuuri wonders if this is what an angel looks like. He also thinks it looks like a diamond—a diamond teddy bear with fluffy feathers. He doesn’t really have the rationality to make sensible metaphors.)

The crow lands directly in front of his feet and immediately starts circling him, curiously looking him up and down. Yuuri feels himself being scrutinized, even though this is just a bird. He gulps.

“Um. I can help you get the snow off,” he repeats himself.

The crow cocks its head and, as a response to his offer, sits down in front of Yuuri’s feet. Yuuri immediately plops down as well, sitting formally with his legs folded under himself and his hands resting on top of his knees. It’s almost weird, how this bird conjures up a sense of respect in him. He doesn’t dwell on it.

Instead, his hands tentatively and slowly approach the crow’s feathers at the top of its head. When the crow remains in its place, Yuuri lets out a sigh of relief and carefully ruffles the feathers on the crow’s head, trying to get out as much snow as he can. His fingers are almost too chubby, made even chubbier by the gloves he’s wearing, but he manages to get rid of the snow on the bird’s body little by little.

A smile stretches his lips the whole time. Even though he can’t feel them through the gloves, the crow’s feathers look soft and beautiful, every single one of them shiny and almost oily. Up close, he can also more clearly see the rainbow shine the feathers give off under the sunlight, and how they’re actually more of a pale silver than a complete white. It’s almost surreal for Yuuri to have this bird under his hands after it had watched over him for so long, probably all of his life, from the same branch of the same tree. It fills him with giddy excitement, and he doesn’t wanna let the crow go, so after all the snow has been removed from its feathers, Yuuri keeps mindlessly stroking the bird.

The crow coos.

It startles Yuuri into stilling his hand because it had never made a sound before. He looks at it with a gaping mouth and wonder in his eyes as the crow rubs against his palm, almost asking him to keep petting it, and softly coos into it. Yuuri complies happily.

Then the sliding door rattles as Mari fights to open it and the crow opens its eyes back up and tenses up. Yuuri stops petting it and immediately stands up to help Mari with the door. Once the door is open and Mari starts quickly shoveling snow, Yuuri looks back to look for the crow, but it’s already perched up on its usual tree branch again.

Yuuri smiles at it. The crow ruffles one of its wings, sends a look in his direction, and then settles down.

His mom bumps into him when he comes running back into the house in a happy frenzy after he and his sister had finished shoveling the snow. He smiles big up at his mom and hugs her legs.

“Mama! I made a new friend!” Yuuri excitedly tells his mom.

“Oh, yeah?” His mom asks, her eyes sweet and soft. “Who is it?”

“It’s a bird! A beautiful bird! It’s white and shiny and  _ so _ big!”

Yuuri’s mom chuckles and ruffles his little boy’s hair. “That’s great, Yuuri.” She winks at him. “There’s someone in the guest room waiting for you, I think she can be your friend too.”

Yuuri’s eyes immediately light up. “Really?!”

“Yes, really.” His mom nods. “Go greet her and I’ll come back in a minute with tea.”

Yuuri walks quickly to the guest room and looks around. There’s a young woman sitting in front of the kotatsu, so he quickly walks over and sits in front of her, his legs shoved under the heated table. He’s really grateful for the kotatsu’s heat, especially after the snow.

“You must be Yuuri,” the woman says. “My name is Oukawa Minako and I’m your mom’s friend.”

“Yes, I’m Katsuki Yuuri. It’s very nice to meet you.” Yuuri bows like he’s been taught, and slips into formal speech that feels clunky and foreign on his mouth. He hasn’t had to use it before this.

It makes Miss Oukawa laugh eagerly. “That’s adorable, but you don’t have to use formal speech with me, Yuuri-chan.”

Yuuri breathes out a sigh of relief. The door to the room slides open and Yuuri’s mom places a tray with three cups of tea on top of the kotatsu, distributing them in between all three of them. Then, she shits next to Yuuri and smiles at him.

“So,” Miss Oukawa says, claiming Yuuri’s attention once more. “Your mom told me you  _ really _ like to dance, Yuuri-chan.”

Yuuri’s eyes light up for probably the tenth time in the day, and he looks up at his mom before he replies to Miss Oukawa. His mom nods at him with sweet eyes, and Yuuri immediately looks back at Miss Oukawa with a big grin stretching his lips.

“I love it!”

 

*

 

The branch that the crow has made its home shakes with the sudden weight of another body being placed over it. It makes the crow finally tear his eyes away from the little Katsuki boy that’s been going over some motions over and over again. The crow thinks it’s what humans call dancing.

It’s warm outside now, getting warmer by the day, and there’s thankfully no danger of a pile of snow accidentally making its way towards the crow. The small red fox sitting next to him on the branch doesn’t seem to be too fond of the change in temperature, though, if his constant scowl is anything to go by. Not like he has the facial features to resemble a scowl in his fox form, but the crow has been alongside him for almost a millenia and he’s pretty confident on his ability to read the kitsune’s moods.

Despite that, the kitsune makes no comment. Just sits there, licking at his fur, and quietly joining the crow on his observation of the Katsuki boy. The crow even dares to say he looks interested.

It’s not an unfamiliar and, most certainly, not an unwelcome situation. They’ve spent the majority of their time like this, anyway; silent, observant and close-together.

Without a sound, the crow turns back his gaze on the Katsuki boy down below, who seems to have changed out the pattern of motions and is now practicing a different set of steps. He coos softly, almost unaware of it himself.

Maybe this dancing thing could be worth a try.

 

*

 

There are now two additions to his life that Yuuri is very happy about: Oukawa-sensei and ballet.

He’s been training every day for the past two years, even when he should’ve been letting his body rest, dedicating himself almost wholly to his passion.  _ Almost _ because he still has school and chores and helps his family at the onsen every now and then. He wishes he could be fully immersed in ballet 24/7, breathe it instead of oxygen if he could. It makes him warm and bright and like nothing he’s ever felt before.

Oukawa-sensei has been making visits to Yuuri’s house and having long chats with Yuuri’s parents lately and it puzzles Yuuri, but he doesn’t prod. Adults talk about adult things anyway, and he’s almost never interested in them unless they include katsudon or ballet.

He’s still curious though, like any other eight-year-old would be. So he sneaks around the guest room when he knows Oukawa-sensei is in there chatting with his parents, his ears red and throat knotted with guilt. He manages to catch the tail end of a conversation one of those times.

“...I think it could be good for him,” Oukawa-sensei is saying. Yuuri can barely hear the soft  _ hmm _ s and  _ hai _ s his mom is making, only because he’s so used to them from hearing them all his life. “Skating is very much like dancing, and it uses many of the techniques learned in ballet. Many skaters take ballet classes alongside skating coaching, actually.”

“I see…” And his mom is nervous, Yuuri can tell by the way she drags out the tail end of the word. She’s probably fidgeting in her seat, a trait Yuuri inherited from her. “And, Minako-sensei, you think my Yuuri could become a competitive figure skater…?”

Yuuri doesn’t even know what that sentence means, doesn’t have the knowledge to know what that entails, but he still feels the knot in his throat grow tighter and not from guilt this time.

“Absolutely. I think he could be wonderful in the ice.” Yuuri can hear the smile in Oukawa-sensei’s voice, her tone the same one that when she’s complimenting Yuuri on a specially graceful jump he did or an almost-perfect choreography he learnt in under a week. He also knows she’s being honest. “Like no other.”

Yuuri’s mom hums, like she’s considering something, and Yuuri scrambles away quickly to his room, his dad’s voice trailing behind him.

“Maybe we should bring it up with Yuuri first…”

They do bring it up, two days later, when Yuuri has had the time to read magazines at convenience stores and made Mari look up bad-quality videos of figure skating routines on their computer. He had watched, awe-struck. And watched, and watched, and watched. And said yes immediately when they asked him, so serious, if this is what Yuuri wants.

And Yuuri forgets the  _ competitive _ part of the sentence, only focuses on the way his legs feel wobbly on the ice because he’s always supported his full weight on his feet and now there’s a thin metal blade in between him and the frozen ground; focuses on the way Oukawa-sensei had lied when she said ballet and ice skating were similar, because  _ feet do not go that way, Yuuri-chan _ and  _ please don’t try to do pliés on the ice, it’s not gonna end well _ ; focuses on the way his heart burns alight with fire, so akin to the way it burns when he dances, but there’s something different when he’s dancing on the ice. It feels like he’ll melt it, with how warm his whole body feels, like he’s completely made of light. 

He’s eight years old and rediscovering his love for dance, discovering altogether a new love that involves sharp blades sliding against the ice and aching ankles.

After his first day of skating practice, Yuuri comes running into the house in giddy excitement, doesn’t stop until he gets to the door that opens to the backyard and almost barrels through it. To his surprise, the crow is down on the ground, pacing from one side to the backyard to another. Yuuri smiles at it. He almost-runs to its side, before slowing down out of fear of scaring the bird, and finally sits in front of it respectfully.

“Mister Crow!” He says happily, opening up his arms as if expecting a hug. The crow does not hug him, but it coos. “I had such a good time today! I got to skate! On the ice! Did you know you can do that? Well, they probably don’t make ice skates your size, but…”

The crow coos almost mockingly as Yuuri rambles off, but stays put. 

As Yuuri does a recounting of his day to the crow, his hand almost automatically wanders to the soft feathers of the crow’s body and starts petting them. The bird does not draw back, instead snuggling up closer to Yuuri’s hand, like it’s seeking the attention and always making sure to listen carefully.

Yuuri smiles. The crow coos. And time flows silently around them.

 

*

 

The crow is interested.

It’s not something that happens often. After many years of watching over humans and even many more of living, there’s not much that catches the crow’s attention and ignites his curiosity.

The Katsuki boy, though; he’s very interested in. He watches the boy raptly as he sits on the backyard under the falling leaves of the autumn trees and listens to music through a small device and makes notes on a bound thing of paper. From time to time he’ll stand up and do some twirls and turns and steps that don’t even look out of place without the music that should accompany them. It’s almost like the boy can make the music flow straight out of his body. It’s completely enticing.

So the crow wonders. He wonders what the Katsuki boy is doing, what he’s writing down on the paper, what he’s listening to in that weird, small device. He wonders what makes his eyes shine so brightly and what he thinks of when a small smile appears on his face, apparently completely unaware of it himself. He wonders what the boy’s name is. He wonders what  _ his _ name is. 

He wants to  _ know _ and it’s a feeling so foreign, it takes him by surprise when he can finally put a name to it.

The kitsune doesn’t ask about it. It’s almost weird, when the nosey fox that is always all up in his business with snarky comments and probing questions that never get answered, doesn’t actually nag him about this one topic in particular. The crow knows the fox has noticed, could never miss the sly glances the kitsune sends his way and the Katsuki boy’s way, how he frowns as he lazily wiggles his five tails.

The only thing different in the kitsune’s behavior is the fact that he transforms into a human much more frequently than before. Not even with a purpose, he just sits on the branch next to the crow as he peels a mandarin, swinging his little legs back and forth, shoving slices of the fruit in his mouth and offering some to the crow.

He thinks maybe the fox is trying to tell him something. He just can’t figure out exactly what.

 

*

 

Excited, high-pitched barking always greets Yuuri whenever he comes home from practice, even before his mom’s  _ welcome back _ . The little poodle jumps excitedly, tries with all of his might to reach Yuuri and push him down onto the ground so he can slobber saliva all over Yuuri’s face, but he’s much too small for that. It makes Yuuri laugh and take pity on the poodle, so he sits down cross legged and lets the puppy climb onto his legs and stretch up to reach his face.

He’s twelve years old now, has had Vicchan for the last three of those, and the wonder of the new puppy still hasn’t worn off him. It’s still the biggest delight when Yuuri gets home to a waiting friend and a wagging tail.

It’s been a huge help just having the puppy around now that he’s gonna start to compete in some local ice skating events. It’s nothing huge and not official in any way, but the  _ competitive _ part of the job description is starting to creep up on him after so long trying not to think about it. And with good reason, because the knot Yuuri felt on his throat after hearing Oukawa-sensei mention it for the first time is back every time he thinks about it now. 

Which is, to say, a whole lot.

He spends half of his day at school and the other half at Hasetsu Castle, the rink where he used to goof around with Yuuko and Takeshi and has now turned into what his coach calls  _ his home rink _ .

It’s not like he hates it; he loves ice skating. Sometimes Yuuri finds himself daydreaming about being at the rink in that moment instead of sitting in class, wishes and longs for it. He doesn’t think that part will ever fade, it seems such a permanent thing, like no matter what else he does he will always love ice skating. And he will always have it, it’s always there when he’s bored or has nothing to do or is feeling lonely. He can always just run down to Hasetsu Castle and lace up his skates and clear his mind of all the static. It’s the best medicine he’s ever had.

But there’s always this dread settled in between his shoulder blades whenever he thinks about competing. He doesn’t know why and he doesn’t know where it comes from, but it’s there and it weighs him down at times.

Vicchan helps, though. He’s a perfect distraction and his mere presence fills Yuuri with happiness. The best part of his day is probably walking him and playing with him, because it’s so peaceful and doesn’t ask anything of him. Vicchan loves him so unconditionally, Yuuri sometimes doesn’t know what to do with all the love. So he packs it up and gives it back, giving the puppy belly rubs and more treats than what he should have for a dog his size.

After dinner, Yuuri takes Vicchan into the backyard so they can play for a little while. They spend a few minutes playing fetch with a ball and then run around for a while, chasing each other. Spent, Yuuri sits down on the porch, leaning back and closing his eyes, catching his breath, and Vicchan comes to lay beside him. It’s peaceful, and Yuuri’s smiling, and then he feels a pair of eyes looking at him.

Startled, he opens his eyes to look for the source of the stare. When he finds no one and is about to head inside again in case there’s a ghost or something, his eyes land on the crow. And… is that resentment on its eyes? He can’t really tell, since this is a  _ bird _ , but the stare weighs so much it makes Yuuri gulp.

Sure, he hadn’t been spending as much time with the crow. It’s also not like the bird came down from its branch much, it had only happened once or twice before, but Yuuri’s also aware that with his skating training becoming more serious and the addition of Vicchan he hasn’t been coming out to greet the crow that much. He suddenly feels a bit guilty about it, and scratches at his neck sheepishly.

“Um, Mister crow?” Yuuri calls, his voice unsure but hopeful. The bird probably doesn’t even understand him, but he hopes it understands the tone of his voice. “Do you wanna come down and join us?”

He pats the empty space beside him and gives the bird a tiny smile. The crow cocks its head, like it’s considering it, but his stare doesn’t get any friendlier. Yuuri gulps again. Maybe there’s no way he’s gonna salvage this friendship now, even after all these years he’s spent near the crow.

But then the crow  _ caws  _ and it takes Yuuri by surprise because it’s the first time he’s heard the bird do it. When he thinks about it, it’s even weirder that the bird has made no other sound but the soft coos it sometimes directs at Yuuri, because birds are supposed to sing and make noise, aren’t they? But suddenly the crow is flying down, walking towards Yuuri, and finally settling down next to his feet on the ground, with its back facing him.

It makes Yuuri laugh, because this bird seems almost offended by something Yuuri did, as if he has hurt its pride. It’s something he’s never seen a bird do before, and it’s almost too funny how annoyed this little bird looks.

Even though the crow is not technically his pet, Yuuri can recognize that he’s been neglecting it for some time now. 

With soft eyes and a small, amused smile, Yuuri stretches forwards and softly grazes the feathers on the head of the crow. He sees the crow tense up, but then it relaxes again, so he keeps petting it. “I’m sorry I haven’t been spending time with you lately,” Yuuri says, carefully petting the bird’s wings. The crow ruffles the other wing and barely audibly coos after a while. “I’ll make sure to come visit you more often.”

The feathers lightly shine rainbow-silver under the dying light of the setting sun as Yuuri threads his fingers through them.

It’s soothing and the best kind of medicine.

 

*

 

Something bad is coming.

The crow is restless, because he can see what’s coming and it’s bad bad  _ bad _ and he doesn’t want it to happen but he can’t do  _ anything _ , he doesn’t have the power nor the permission to alter the destiny in that way. But does he wish he had both of those. 

He paces around in the backyard because the Katsuki boy is still at school and when he comes home  _ that _ will already have happened. The kitsune is also laying in the backyard, watching him pace with a slightly worried look, his beady fox eyes following his movements from one end of the backyard to another. 

The worst part is that he  _ knows _ and therefore should be able to do something, anything to make it not happen, but he  _ can’t _ . His only duty is to watch over time and the events that unfold but never, never be a factor of change. He wants to scream, tear his feathers out, fly away from the inevitable.

He’s not leaving the Katsuki boy alone.

So he waits. It’s something that comes as easy as breathing for he has been doing it all of his life. Always waiting, always watching. But it’s different this time, somehow. He’s never felt this desperate kind of waiting, the need for time to speed up and slow down at the same time. It’s new and not at all welcome, a part of his brain desperately telling him to go back to being only an observer, to stop playing this pretend-part of someone he’s never been and will never be.

(The other part of his brain keeps telling him the Katsuki boy is worth it.)

The crow knows the exact moment it happens. His whole body freezes in place with the fact, all of his feathers still. There’s a worried yell from inside the house and the world gets put into motion once again.

He also knows the moment they tell the Katsuki boy. And the moment the boy comes home and starts bawling, the sobs coming from him sounding like they’re tearing his whole body apart. Something squeezes at the crow’s chest and it’s not pretty nor pleasant. It’s an ache like he’s never known before, or has forgotten he once felt. 

His entire body screams with the need to comfort, to stop the sobs and the tears, but he doesn’t know how. He’s watched humans for so long and he knows absolutely nothing about them.

After a few minutes the sobs subside. The crow waits at the door, worried and expectant. He caws.

The sliding door rattles open and there stands the Katsuki boy. His cheeks and nose are red and his eyes hold much more sadness than a child his age should ever hold. The crow looks at the boy directly in the eyes and caws, more softly this time. The eyes of the boy quickly well up with tears once again, which begin to spill from the corners as he runs towards the bird and unceremoniously drops to his knees, quickly enveloping the entire bird with shaky arms. He buries his face in the soft feathers, quietly sobbing into them, and the crow wishes he had arms and hands to hug back and soothe, but he has nothing so he only coos.

The quiet sobs stop after a few seconds, but the Katsuki boy doesn’t stop hugging him. “Hey, Mister crow?” he says into the feathers, his voice small and wavery. “How long do crows live? Will you also go away like Vicchan did?”

Something swells up and breaks inside the crow’s chest. Something he thought he’d lost a long time ago, something that this boy has been bringing back little by little and without the crow’s permission. He tries to shake his head in a negative, wants to reassure this little boy that he will always be by his side whatever it takes, nobody will pry him from this place in his arms, but it doesn’t translate into his body of a bird like it should so he just caws, frustrated, and softly rubs the top of his head into the Katsuki boy’s cheek, hoping it helps somehow.

The arms around him tighten.

“Can I call you Viktor?” The Katsuki boy asks, fearful, and then sniffles. He uses one hand to wipe at his nose but doesn’t move any more than that. “That was Vicchan’s name but we all just called him Vicchan. I want… to call you Viktor.”

The crow thinks the request holds much more than the boy is letting on. It’s not only  _ I want to call you Viktor _ but it’s also  _ I want you to stay by my side  _ and  _ I want a friend  _ and  _ I don’t want to be lonely, please don’t let me be lonely _ . It completely shatters the crow’s heart—that new thing the boy awoke in his chest.

So the crow takes a few steps back and looks at the boy directly in the eyes, those brown and sorrowful eyes, and caws his affirmation because he wants, he desperately wants to be next to this boy. He wants to be given a name and be given importance and to no longer be only an observer.

The boy lets out a small broken laugh and wipes at the corners of his eyes where new tears began forming. His glasses are foggy. He sits back and adjusts his messy positioning from before. “You’re Viktor,” he says and points to the bird. “And I’m Yuuri,” and points to himself. “And we will be together from now on.”

The crow nods and coos his approval.

Yuuri, the Katsuki boy for whom the crow finally has a name, smiles. It’s like the clouds parting for the sun after a storm, even if all the light doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s too early for that, still, the pain too fresh, but the crow hopes he can help soothe it in due time. Yuuri yawns, his eyes crinkling at the edges and letting out tiny little tears, and plops down next to the crow on the grass.

“I’m just gonna rest a little.”

The mumble is a little bit lost in the grass but the crow understands nonetheless, and moves to snuggle up against the boy’s body, closing his eyes himself. When Yuuri’s breathing is finally even, the crow hears a rustle of leaves and opens up one of his eyes, only to find the kitsune coming over to snuggle up on the other side of the boy, very pointedly avoiding the crow’s stare and grumbling something under his breath.

The crow smiles and closes his eye back down, reveling in the soft cadence of Yuuri’s breathing next to him.

He has a name now. Viktor.

He likes it. 

 

*

 

Yuuri’s first ISU official competition is three days after Vicchan’s death.

He places 18th.

 

*

 

“Hey, old man. Viktor. That’s what the boy calls you, right? Viktor old man. You do remember you can transform into a human, right? Just like—hey, Viktor! Where are you going, asshole, I’m talking to you!”

 

*

 

“Ah!”

Yuuri immediately sits up from his slouched position, startled. A yell came from the backyard and seeing as his room is the closest to it, it traveled right through the walls and into his room. He places a bookmark inside the book he was reading and closes it up, standing up and hastily putting on a light jacket. It’s november and the chill is finally starting to come in, after a long autumn.

“Oh my god, put some clothes on you exhibitionist! Did you even forget how to  _ walk _ ? How long has it been?!”

There’s another voice, distinctly different from the one that yelled at first, and Yuuri is utterly confused. How did two different people get into his backyard without his family noticing? Are they onsen clients? Why are they so loud and why do their voices have an accent?

Yuuri opens the sliding door with a rattle. Two pairs of eyes snap up to him. He takes a few seconds to drink in the situation before him.

There’s a boy, probably around ten years old, in traditional miko-style kimono, with short blonde hair and shining green eyes. He also has fox ears. Yuuri can count at least three tails from where he’s standing.

There’s also another boy, kneeling on the ground, wearing nothing but a thin yukata, not unlike the ones they give at the onsen. He looks older, at least of sixteen years old, and has long, flowing grey hair that seems to almost shine rainbow under certain lightning. There’s something very familiar about it. His eyes are a striking icy blue. He does not have fox ears nor tails.

Yuuri is thirteen years old and has a total of two friends: Yuu-chan and Takeshi-kun. He does not know how to deal with other people. Especially foreigners. Especially teenagers.

He closes the door on impulse.

“Ah!”

“Hey!”

The screams are simultaneous and Yuuri has to take two, three deep breaths. He opens the door back up,  _ very _ slowly this time. He peeks through the slit he’s opened and looks at the two boys. The small, blonde one is frowning at him intensely, his hands balled up in fists at his hips. He probably thinks he looks imposing—he doesn’t. The silver-haired one is now sitting cross-legged, no longer on all fours, and is beaming at him.

“Um.” Yuuri pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tries to recollect all the knowledge he has of english, which is very little. “Are you… okay?”

“Oh!”

Yuuri is really starting to think the silver-haired boy only speaks in exclamations.

“We’re okay,” the little boy replies in japanese, and then Yuuri remembers when he first heard them talk it was in japanese and not english. His face heats up in embarrassment. “I just need help lifting this guy up.” The boy points at the one sitting on the grass.

Yuuri surveys them one more time and then apparently his generational customer service blood kicks in because he remembers how cold it is outside and while the little boy is in full kimono, the older one is in only a yukata and is probably very cold. They may not be customers per se, but they’re in Katsuki land, thus in Yu-topia land, thus should be treated as customers. And, anyway, it would probably be the polite thing to do.

He rushes over to the two boys and sheds his jacket to drape it over the teenager’s shoulders. He slides one arm under the boy’s armpits and lifts him up. He’s very light. “Did he twist his ankle or something?” Yuuri asks the little boy who, despite asking for help, isn’t actually doing anything to help Yuuri carry the teenager’s weight.

The blonde boy frowns. “What? No. He’s just an idiot and forgot how to walk.”

Yuuri very pointedly does not respond.

Not like he could’ve, though, because as soon as the silver-haired boy is up on his feet—and, Yuuri notices absently, that he’s taller than him—he’s all up on Yuuri’s face. He grabs Yuuri by the neck of his shirt and gets  _ really _ close, so close that Yuuri can count his eyelashes and make out the speckles of silver-gray mixed in with the icy blue of his eyes. The boy is beaming. Yuuri’s brain short-circuits.

“Viktor!” The teenage boy says in a sing-song voice, so pretty it almost rings like christmas bells to Yuuri’s ears. “Call me Viktor!”

“Uhhh,” Yuuri stammers out. His brain reboots and he finally pushes the boy away, keeping him at arm's’ length. “Okay. You can call me Yuuri.”

The boy, Viktor, seems to pout at being pushed away but then beams at Yuuri once more. “I know.”

Yuuri looks at him cautiously. Is this actually someone dangerous? Should he not be bringing these boys inside his house? They don’t look dangerous, though; more like defenseless. They’re not even wearing proper clothing. Yuuri decides to go with his gut feeling for once and help these boys get into the house and get warm. He hopes he won’t regret it later.

That’s when the little boy seems to come back to the conversation.

“Hey!  _ I’m _ Yuri! There can’t be two Yuris and I was Yuri  _ first _ !” He’s yelling, throwing a tantrum. 

Yuuri decides not to tell him he’s clearly older than the blonde boy and, therefore, was Yuuri first. “We can… resolve that later,” he says instead. “Let’s get you both inside and warm before that.” He turns to Viktor and slides his arm around his waist and drapes Viktor’s arm over his shoulders. “Can you walk like this with me to the house? I don’t think I can carry you, sorry.”

Viktor frowns at Yuri. “Don’t be mean to Yuuri, little kitty.” He then turns to Yuuri, the frown all but gone. “Of course.”

Yuri looks even angrier after that, his face reddening up comically. “I’m  _ not _ a kitty, old man. I’m a  _ fox _ ! Don’t call me kitty!”

Yuuri thinks the little boy may be taking this cosplay thing—because that’s what it has to be, for him to be dressed up in such a way—a little too far, but he makes no comment. Instead, he carries Viktor towards the house with little trouble. Viktor stumbles at times, but seems to mostly be able to walk. Yuri reluctantly follows them inside, sulking the whole time.

They get all the way to the guest room and then Yuuri helps Viktor under the kotatsu while he goes looking for blankets to help heat both of the boys up. Who knows how long they had been outside in the cold? When he comes back with the blankets, Yuri is already under the kotatsu as well and Viktor is burrowing into Yuuri’s jacket, curiously looking around. Yuuri blushes a little and hands them both the blankets. He fusses over them for a bit, a habit he most definitely got from his mom, and then runs out of the room with the excuse of bringing back tea.

His mom is in the kitchen, tidying up and setting up for dinner. Yuuri stands in the doorway to the kitchen, fidgeting.

“Mama,” he calls and his mom looks over her shoulder, makes a soft inquiring sound. Yuuri gulps. Then lets it all out all at once. “So there were these two boys outside in the backyard and I don’t know how they got there, but I heard a yell and I went out to check and they were there. I think one of them is cosplaying and maybe they’re here for an event? Because they look like foreigners but I couldn’t just leave them outside because it’s  _ cold _ , Mama, so I brought them in and now they’re waiting in the guest room.”

His mom is standing in front of him when he’s finished, both of her hands over his shoulders and a worried but soft expression. “Calm down, Yuuri. Take a deep breath.” Yuuri does. He feels much better. “Okay, now you can take me with these boys and we’ll find out what’s going on. Good?”

Yuuri nods, biting down on his lip. His mom starts walking into the hallway but Yuuri remembers something. “Oh!” His mom turns back to him. “I said I was going to bring tea.”

His mom’s lips stretch in a smile. “Of course, how could I forget.”

They bring over a tray with four cups of tea and sit down with the two boys to talk. They can’t get much out of them, though, apart from their names and the fact that Yuri keeps saying they’ve been here for a long time. Yuuri pulls on his ears once, asking about his cosplay, only to have the boy hiss at him and yell that they’re real. He thinks Yuri may be one of those people that get a little too much into their character when they’re cosplaying.

After talking with them for a while, his mom decides to let them stay over for dinner and for the night as she and his dad talk to the cops about possible missing children that could fit their descriptions. If there’s no information, they’ll just put out a notice the following day to let anyone that could know them know that they’re safe and where they’re staying so they can be picked up.

At night, Yuuri’s room feels cramped with the other two bodies sleeping next to him. Yuri is fast asleep, and insisted on not getting out of his cosplay even when Yuuri told him it’d get wrinkled and warped. 

But Viktor—Viktor is awake and he’s looking at Yuuri with sparkling eyes and a soft smile that shines like the moon, all too bright and all too gentle at the same time. When the moonlight illuminates his hair it shines softly in the colors of the rainbow and Yuuri has to refrain himself from running his fingers through it. He doesn’t think he’s ever met a person this pretty.

Yuuri falls asleep with Viktor’s eyes on him and Viktor’s fingers barely touching his in between their bodies.

Both Viktor and Yuri are gone when he wakes up.

 

*

 

The crow caws, restless. He didn’t remember how much energy it took to transform into a human. He now has some sort of respect for the kitsune that seems to transform every other day.

He thinks it’s also something to do with his power, about how it’s waned now that he hasn’t used it as much. He tries to transform a couple of times the day after meeting with Yuuri, but it only lasts for a few minutes and then he reverts back into a crow. The kitsune laughs at him.

“I didn’t think you were so old you couldn’t even transform, that’s kids’ stuff!” The kitsune tells him. Viktor glares at him. It’s easy to talk in his animal form now, but it’s easier to ignore the annoying fox.

Yuri, in his small fox form, rolls in the grass and looks at him upside down as Viktor keeps trying and failing to transform. After a couple more attempts, and more than a couple of patronizing cackles from the kitsune, Viktor stops trying and just settles down on his usual branch, fuming. It’s frustrating. He’s already this old and he isn’t some minor demon like a kitsune, he  _ should _ be able to transform whenever he wants.

But he’s also neglected life and himself for the longest time, so maybe it’s natural that his power is not as strong as it used to be.

Viktor stays as a crow for a couple more days, trying to charge his power bar back up, and watches over Yuuri with desperation. He wants to talk, wants to hug, wants to sleep by his side and watch him bathed in the moonlight.

(The crow is thousands of years old but he still thinks the Katsuki boy under the moonlight, with sleep-soft eyes and a shy smile, is the most beautiful sight he’s ever seen.)

It takes a little over two weeks, but Viktor is finally able to stay a human for over two hours, so he transforms and hurries over to the backyard door of the Katsuki house. He no longer has problem walking, either. He rasps on the door with his knuckles, a big grin on his face, almost unable to contain his excitement.

The person who opens the door is not Yuuri. The person who opens the door is a girl slightly older than Yuuri, with grown-out bleached hair and looks like she could knock Viktor out with a single punch. He knows that this girl is Yuuri’s older sister. Viktor gulps.

She frowns, suspicious. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

Viktor gapes, and finally after a couple of seconds stammers out, “I’m Yuuri’s friend.” He doesn’t even offer his name or any kind of explanation.

“Oh!” The girl says, probably recognizing him, but the suspicion in her eyes and wariness doesn’t lessen. “You’re that weird foreigner from the other day.”

Viktor shifts his weight from one foot to the other, unsure of whether she’s insulting him or not. “Um, yes? I guess.”

She looks like she’s considering letting him in when a yell coming from inside the house interrupts them.

“Mari-neesan!” It’s Yuuri’s voice and Viktor recognizes it immediately. He stands on his tiptoes, trying to look over the girl, who he now knows is named Mari, and into the hallway. Mari mimics his movements though, effectively blocking out his view of the inside of the house. Viktor gives up with a childish pout. “Mama is looking for you, she needs help with something on the onsen. Where are you?”

Yuuri is very obviously walking around the house looking for his sister, because the volume of his voice changes. In the end he seems to be walking towards the backyard, because his voice gets steadily closer and Viktor beams, stretching to one side, trying to peek into the house.

“Yuuri!” He yells excitedly. Mari tries to block him again, but he’s too quick, and catches a glimpse of the boy walking in their direction.

Yuuri looks surprised, his mouth agape as he pushes past Mari and grabs Viktor by the shoulders. “Viktor?! What are you doing here again? What happened to you? Are you alright? Is Yuri alright?” He pauses on his interrogation to look around, possibly looking for the small boy. There’s only a small fox lazily circling them and Viktor looks at it in warning. “Where is he?”

“He… Yuri couldn’t come today. But he wanted to!” He reassures Yuuri. The fox makes a sort of hissing sound. Viktor nudges it with his feet. “But I’m here! I wanted to see you again.”

Yuuri blushes. The red looks lovely on his cheeks, turns them into rose petals.

“I… can see that you’re here.” Yuuri’s voice is quiet, but then he perks up. “Do your parents know you’re coming over? You won’t get into any trouble, will you?”

Viktor pouts and crosses his arms in front of himself. “Stop asking so many questions, Yuuri. I just wanna hang out.”

Yuuri deflates a little, but he gives an apologetic smile. “Right, sorry. Come on in, my mom has been worried about you guys. She’ll probably talk you into staying over for dinner again, so you should get prepared for that.”

Viktor instantly lights up. “Oh! Are we having that rice and pork thing again? Please, please,  _ please _ ?”

“You liked the katsudon?!” Yuuri says, and his eyes are shining.

“Of course!”

“I’d like… to have it too. Actually,” Yuuri gets shy, looking down at his feet instead of Viktor, a small smile on his face. “It’s my favorite dish.”

“I can see why.”

Viktor can’t resist this time, so he extends one hand towards Yuuri and places a hand softly on his rosy cheek, lifting the boy’s head up. Yuuri is startled by the contact but doesn’t back away from it, so Viktor dares to rub his thumb over the soft flesh, and then Yuuri  _ does _ back away. He takes two steps back, sliding out of Viktor’s touch, his cheeks now a full red. He’s looking everywhere but at Viktor’s face.

“Let’s get inside, it’s gonna get cold soon!” Yuuri’s voice is a bit too high-pitched, and it’s obvious he’s nervous, but it just looks endearing to Viktor’s eyes.

He nods. “Of course.”

Viktor follows Yuuri into the house, the fox slipping inside before anyone can stop it, but the moment they cross the threshold Mari stops Yuuri with a hand on his shoulder. Viktor stops walking a few feet away, to give them privacy, but he’s still in hearing-distance.

“Yuuri, are you sure about this?” Mari asks and she eyes Viktor. There’s honest concern on her voice and Viktor can’t even blame her.

“It’s fine, Mari-neesan,” Yuuri says, with more confidence that Viktor has ever heard in him. He adds, like an afterthought, “Mama likes him.”

Mari relaxes, but still doesn’t seem to completely trust Viktor. He’s fine with that.

“Alright, kiddo.” She ruffles Yuuri’s hair, which makes Yuuri laugh, and Viktor’s pretty sure he’s gonna pass out.

Yuuri walks towards him again and leads him to the guest room, where his mom meets them and, as predicted, invites Viktor to stay for dinner. She also promises the dish Yuuri had called katsudon and Yuuri is over the moon over getting to eat his favorite dish twice in a month. Then they move to Yuuri’s room and Viktor thanks his lucky stars for every decision that brought him to this moment and place.

They talk. Viktor drinks every little detail of information about Yuuri greedily.

He can’t really talk much himself without giving away his real identity and non-human status, but he doesn’t even care because he’s so intrigued by this boy all he wants to do is hear him talk about himself. It takes a bit of work because, as Viktor finds out, Yuuri is rather shy and closed off. He isn’t that skilled at interacting with people and only has two friends—for which Viktor can’t judge him, since he only has one friend himself—, so he’s not used to talk about himself.

But they make do.

Yuuri talks about the sport he practices called skating with a passion, tells Viktor about his favorite skaters and even brings out magazines to show him pictures of them. He also talks about ballet, his second favorite activity after skating. He talks to him about Vicchan and how it’s funny they have the same name, but the way he says it lets Viktor know it’s actually not funny at all. And he has to refrain himself from screaming in Yuuri’s face  _ it’s me! My name! You gave me this name! _ because Yuuri can’t know.

Viktor leaves after dinner and actually uses the front door for once. He’s disoriented for a little while, until he finds an isolated alley and transforms back into a crow. He flies to the roof of Yu-topia and finally sees the big old tree in the backyard, his makeshift home. 

He flies over and settles down on his usual branch, filled to the brim with some kind of warmth. It’s another one of those things the Katsuki boy awakens in him.

He loves it.

(Later into the night, Viktor discovers the kitsune curled up at the base of the tree, munching away at some treats and baked goods that definitely came from the Katsuki house. He glares at it but is ignored, and scolds himself for forgetting Yuri had also come in with them and that kitsunes are tricky, sly foxes after all.)

 

*

 

At first, Yuuri thinks Viktor and Yuri are just a couple of foreigners—they are certainly eccentric enough—that are very fluent in japanese and are staying in Hasetsu for a vacation, who also happened to wander into the backyard of Yu-topia somehow.

Then, three weeks pass.

And then two months.

They meet several times, generally once a week, and always in Yu-topia. Yuuri still doesn’t know Viktor or Yuri’s address or even their family names and he thinks maybe his family should be a bit more worried about it than they are. His mother, having taken to Viktor immediately and warming up quickly to Yuri’s ferocious nature, treats them both like they’re her children too.

Viktor always uses the back door, despite countless attempts by Yuuri to make him use the front one. At least this way whenever Yuuri hears a knock on the back door he knows who it is.

Viktor becomes a constant presence in Yuuri’s life, much like the crow that’s always perched on the same tree branch on his backyard. One time, while Yuuri is braiding Viktor’s hair at his request, he tells Viktor of how his hair reminds him of an albino crow that’s always lived on his backyard, and how it’s so funny that he actually named the crow Viktor at some point after his childhood dog. Viktor goes stiff at this and Yuuri worries about having said something wrong, but then Viktor lets out a half-choked  _ what a coincidence, right? _ and relaxes a bit. Yuuri just nods and keeps working on the braid, pushing down the knot of anxiety on his throat.

There’s a lot of weird things about Viktor. Apart from not telling his family name or address, he doesn’t have a cellphone and is pretty much clueless when it comes to technology. It’s not like Yuuri is a tech genius, but he at least  _ knows _ what a computer is. He also has a pet fox that comes to visit with him sometimes and steals all of Yuuri’s snacks. It sometimes seems like he doesn’t age, months pass and he looks exactly the same as when Yuuri first met him and Yuuri has already shot up a few inches. He makes a joke about it to him, about how Viktor is gonna keep looking sixteen even when Yuuri is twenty, and the next time they meet Viktor looks like he aged a whole year in one night. This happens a few more times over the years, like Viktor just  _ forgets _ to age, then suddenly remembers and makes his body show it.

Viktor is also always away for the whole month of October for some reason. Yuri comes visit sometimes in his stead, but never tells Yuuri where Viktor is and why he’s gone.

(One day, Yuuri remembers his mom telling him about October, “The Month with No Gods”. He never makes the connection.)

Not without their fair share of mishaps and stumbles, but they make it work, somehow. Their friendship holds strong through the years, even as Yuuri becomes more and more swamped with skating practice and competitions. They still find the time to hang out every other day and go to summer festivals. Viktor is Yuuri’s best friend and he makes Yuuri’s heart race and burn in almost the same way skating does.

Yuuri loves skating. He doesn’t realize he also loves Viktor.

That’s why, when Yuuri is offered a scholarship for skating by the University of Detroit, he doesn’t tell him. He just packs up and leaves.


End file.
